Paddler: Lu Johnston & Jose Maldonado

Jose Maldonado has graciously agreed to paddle for me in this year’s Paddle for Promise! I am especially excited because Jose is a Street Leader and the funds raised by this event go toward Street Leader salaries.

Jose is 17 years old and has been in UrbanPromise programs since he was 8. He attended camp, was hired as a StreetLeader, and is now a Team Leader where he supervises other StreetLeaders at Camp Victory on Wilmington’s East Side. He graduated from Delaware Military Academy this spring, and in October, he will continue his family’s tradition of serving our country and will join the Navy. His plan is to be a Nuclear Engineer and see the world. He is a smart, compassionate young man…who is strong enough to paddle a dragon boat down the Delaware!!

This will be Jose’s last summer as a Team Leader. He told me that he has been mentoring a young man in his neighborhood who he hopes will be placed under his supervision as a Street Leader at Camp Promise. “I want to teach him all that I have learned – the way someone taught me.”

$1,000 employs a StreetLeader for the whole summer$200 employs a StreetLeader for two weeks$100 employs a StreetLeader for one weekEVERY donation helps!